


The One With the Fro-Yo

by erisgregory



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Comfort, Derek Hale is a Softie, Flirting, Fluff, M/M, Pack Feels, Post-Nogitsune Stiles Stilinski, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-09
Updated: 2015-04-09
Packaged: 2018-03-22 00:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3708205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisgregory/pseuds/erisgregory
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the nogitsune, Stiles has trouble getting out of bed. He's exhausted, he's having nightmares, and he doesn't want to see anyone. With a little meddling from his dad, and a promise of frozen yogurt, Derek manages to get him showered and dressed and out of the house, if only for a little while.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One With the Fro-Yo

**Author's Note:**

> I got an anonymous prompt for Derek and Stiles to go on a fro-yo date and I ended up pouring a lot of my post-nogitsune feelings into it. Also it's pre slash? I get so frustrated by pre slash, but ah well. It feels like a beginning to me, so here it is. Short and sweet and completely betaless. Forgive me?

“What’re you doing here?” Stiles was halfway down the stairs in nothing but Spongebob pajamas that were two inches too short when he saw Derek on the couch, casual as can be flipping channels on the tv.

“Babysitting.” Derek didn’t bother looking up even as Stiles squawked indignantly at him in response.

“I don’t need a babysitter! I’m fine! Remember?” Stiles came to stand directly in front of the television, and daytime talk, really Derek? He crossed his arms and tried not to sound as much like a fit throwing four year old as he suddenly felt. Derek was ignoring him.

“No more nogitsune, no dementia, I got the all clear three days ago!”

Finally Derek clicked off the tv and rolled his eyes up to meet Stiles. “Your dad tells me you haven’t been out of bed since you got home. You’re not eating, you’re definitely not showering,” here he wrinkled his nose and Stiles wanted nothing more but to be back upstairs in his nest of blankets away from that judgey ass look on Derek’s face.

“Yeah, well, I was tired. Who knows when I last actually slept.” Stiles dropped his arms. He knew he was pathetic, but it was easier not to be awake just now. Being awake meant thinking and remembering, and just np. It was no good. He was about to say something along those lines when Derek’s face went serious.

“I know. Your dad was worried. Didn’t want you to be alone.” Derek’s face was saying a lot more than that, but it didn’t feel like pity, it was too intense for pity, too personal. Stiles had to look away.

“Oh.” he said eventually. 

The silence stretched between them and Stiles thought he probably ought to grab his juice from the fridge and head back upstairs before it got any weirder.

“Did you come down for food?” Derek asked suddenly.

“Uh, no, just juice. It got too warm upstairs.” Stiles was ready to back out slowly, but Derek was looking him over, critically, almost like he was worried.

“You need to eat something. I could fix you breakfast if you want.” His voice was completely calm, as if it were a totally normal thing to offer to do.

“You cook?” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them. 

The corner of Derek’s mouth twitched. “I do eat, you know. Human food, not just rabbits and deer I catch in the wild.”

Stiles laughed and the sound of it was so surprising and foreign that it stunned him. It must have surprised Derek too because he was almost smiling. Almost. It didn’t last though. Stiles wanted to be back in bed. That was something he at least understood. As nice as this weirdly was…

“No, thanks. Really, I’m not hungry.” He turned and headed for the stairs. Maybe he wasn’t even awake now. He stopped and counted his fingers. One, two, three, four, five, six-

“Frozen yogurt?” Derek was much closer, just behind him. He stopped counting and looked back.

“What?” If this were a dream, maybe it was an okay one.

“You were mumbling about it last night when I got here. Fro yo, with brownie bites and oreo cookie crumbles. We could go get some.” Derek shrugged.

“Oh my god, dude, you can’t just listen in on me like that, how long have you been here?”

“Your dad got called in around two. Go get cleaned up. Take a hot shower, find some clothes that fit, and I’ll buy you all the frozen yogurt you want.”

Stiles could feel his mouth hanging open, but Derek was standing there like it was no big. He crossed his arms back over his chest. “If we do this, I expect Pink Berry. None of that fake drive through crap.”

“Fine,” Derek told him, his smirk coming back.

“And you don’t get to complain about what I put on it.” Stiles still felt like he was in the twilight zone, but he had been craving it like mad. He just hadn’t wanted to go alone.

Derek held up his hands in front of him in mock surrender.

“Fine,” Stiles told him. Then he bounded up the stairs before he could change his mind about any of it.

Stiles grabbed a change of clothes before closing himself in his bathroom and taking a good long look in the mirror. Satisfied he looked as awful as he felt, he turned on the water and brushed his teeth while the shower heated up. This was weird, wasn’t it? Derek downstairs watching t.v. and waiting to take him out for frozen yogurt? It was like the world got stuck halfway to rightside up after flipping over and just never recovered. Though, if fro yo could be had and Derek was going to pay for it, maybe Stiles could live in this new world. He might not feel like much of anything, but he suspected watching Derek do something as mundane as pick dessert toppings would be totally worth any effort on his part. Plus the actually getting to eat it himself part.

He didn’t linger in the shower and he certainly didn’t let his thoughts carry him from thinking about himself eating the frozen yogurt to thinking about Derek eating it. No. He scrubbed his wet hair with the towel, hit it with a comb, then got dressed before heading back down.

Derek seemed as comfortable as ever on the couch watching some renovation show, but Stiles didn’t miss the way his nose lifted slightly as he came down. There was something that might want to be a smile on the corner of his mouth when he clicked the t.v. off and stood facing Stiles.

“Yeah, yeah, soap did wonders for me, I get it,” Stiles rolled his eyes. “I’m not here for a hygiene pep talk, I’m here for Pink Berry.”

“I was just wondering if we ought to burn your pajamas and maybe your sheets so your father doesn’t catch something.” Derek told him, nonplussed.

“Funny, Derek. Very funny. Let’s go.” Stiles strode to the door and held it open, tapping his foot in mock impatience. It was funny though, which was sort of surprising. Derek had always been a sarcastic asshole, but Stiles rarely thought he was actually going for humor.

Stiles didn’t argue when Derek walked straight for his own car, the RAV 4 he still couldn’t believe replaced the Camaro. Who gets rid of a Camaro? It was like a midlife crisis in reverse. Worse, it was a total dad car. Like he was expecting triplets and had to have enough room for all the car seats.

He must have been making a face because Derek was stopped ion the driver’s side with car door open just looking at him, all traces of humor gone from his face.

“What?” 

“I can practically hear you judging my car.” Derek told him.

Stiles gaped for a moment then swung himself into the passenger seat without another word.

“It’s practical.”

“Yeah for a new dad with three kids on the way.”

Derek just looked at him, both eyebrows raised, blinking expectantly like he was waiting for Stiles to catch on to something.

“Derek, did you knock someone up?”

Derek rolled his eyes heavily and started the car.

“I know this is like your pack car or whatever, but it’s so…”

“Safe? Gas efficient? Easy to take off road? Easy to clean? Sturdy?”

They were pulling out of the drive now and Stiles was tipping his head around and hmm’ing like he couldn’t quite find the word he was looking for. “No, that’s still not it,” Stiles taunted. Derek didn’t look angry though. He looked nothing at all like the Derek of old that was about to lose his patience with Stiles and attempt to bite his head off. The little playful quirk in the corner of his mouth was back even as he pretended to growl.

“Old. It’s old, Derek, it definitely dates you.” Stiles laughed at his own hilarity, and Derek shook his head and sighed heavily as though very put upon.

“Then it’s a good thing I didn’t buy it to impress you, isn’t it?” Derek smirked.

“Oh definitely. I mean if you were trying to pick up single soccer moms, you’d be set, but with me you could…” Stiles choked over the next word, turning abruptly out the window with a tight laugh. “Not that you would, you know, want to, but you know what I mean.” He added in an attempt to cover his embarrassment.

They rode in silence for a couple of blocks, though thankfully Derek took pity on him and turned on the radio. He was sure Derek could smell the shame all over him, which didn’t help, nor did it help thinking about what Derek could do if he did want to ever pick Stiles up. Wrong path to head down, that. Must focus on how many different flavors of frozen yogurt he could fit in one tub once they got to the shop.

He was uncomfortable and couldn’t sit still and was just starting to wonder if maybe he really wasn’t ready for people and talking and trying to be himself again when Derek said, “The car salesmen basically said the same thing. He tried his best to talk me out of it.” His voice was low and conspiratorial and Stiles couldn’t help the little laugh that burst out at that thought. “I thought he was going to cry when he saw my trade in.”

That got a real laugh from Stiles who just shook his head and said, “Oh man, I can picture that so well. Poor guy.”

When they arrived, Stiles reminded Derek not to complain about what he picked and Derek agreed, shaking his head fondly as they entered

Stiles expected a lot of things, but he didn’t expect Derek to ask for several tiny sample cups so he can make a more informed decision about his frozen yogurt. He tried every flavor except the sugar free green tea which Stiles tried to convince him is a shame because there is nothing wrong with the sugar free green tea, but failed.

“I can taste the artificial sweeteners. Too much chemical aftertaste.” Derek informed him, his nose wrinkling in distaste before moving on to try the pumpkin pie flavor.

He can’t argue with that so he focused on his own creation. Chocolate, cheesecake, raspberry, orange. Which he then decided to top with cheesecake bites, fresh raspberries, dark chocolate chips, those little round orange candies that have orange syrup in them, crumbled oreos, and graham cookie crumbles. And hot fudge. A lot of hot fudge. Derek gave him a look as they placed their cups on the scale.

“No way, you promised, man.” Stiles warned him as he picked up a spoon. 

Derek, of course, pulled the most insanely innocent look ever and the lady behind the counter grinned at both of them like they were adorable. Stiles is not. Derek might be, but he’s an also an asshole.

They chose a spot by the window and settled into chairs at the tiny table. Derek with his very normal strawberry vanilla swirl topped with strawberries, and Stiles with his monster creation. He caught Derek eyeing it again.

“I’ll have you know I have an extremely sophisticated palate.” Derek watched him take a large bite and blinked at him, nodding slowly as though to say oh yeah, I can see that.

“You’re judging my fro yo. Harshly.” Stiles said.

“Much like you judged my new car.” Derek shot back. Then he grinned that homicidal smile of his and took a bite.

“Okay, but I have been in your car, dude. It’s definitely like a dad car. You even admitted you bought it with the safety of the pack in mind, so--”

“So what, you think I should try your disgusting creation before I can fairly judge it?”

No, Stiles was not thinking that, but it sounded right. “Exactly. You should try it before you call it disgusting. Because it’s not, it’s amazing. It’s bliss.” Stiles was just scooping up a big bite for himself but Derek caught his wrist and started pulling it across the table. His eyes glinted mischievously at Stiles, who was sort of holding his breath and wondering how he got himself into this sudden disaster.

Because Derek was going to have his bite right off his spoon while holding on to him, basically forcing Stiles to feed him the bite. It was too much and there it was happening and his lips were around Stiles’s spoon and there was nothing to do but just watch while he licked at the spoon to get every drop.

It was over fairly quickly. Derek let him go and Stiles tried not to keep staring at his mouth as he rolled it around, testing the flavors. He felt his face growing hot, ears too, shit, and any minute now Derek was going to smell how suddenly turned on he was by all of that lip licking. 

“That was disgusting.” Derek proclaimed and went right back to eating his own dessert.

“Yeah well…” Your face is disgusting. You're too old to enjoy good things. Anything other than Yeah, well. But he had nothing so he stuffed a huge bite into his mouth and practically gave himself brain freeze. It didn’t help at all that Derek was chuffing across from him all smirky and satisfied like he knew exactly what he’d done and it was totally worth it because Stiles finally had no words. Bastard. Hey wait.

“Asshole, you did that on purpose!” Stiles dropped his spoon and threw his arms up.

Now Derek was actually laughing out loud and Stiles wanted to throw something at him. But he didn’t deny it.

“You’re actually evil. I always thought you were a softy on the inside somewhere deep down, but no. You’re evil.” Stiles crossed his arms, unsure whether he should be pouting or high fiving Derek. He chuckled despite it all.

“I hate you.”

“You do not. I bought you fro yo.” Derek told him matter of factly.

“And said fro yo.” Stiles huffed. He was not going to give in just because Derek was laughing and teasing him and basically being awesome. He was also evil and deserved to be punished. 

“Fine, and said fro yo.” Derek conceded.

It was difficult to feel too put out when Derek looked genuinely happy, so Stiles decided maybe he could stand the teasing if it also meant he could hang out with Derek and see him look like that.

“Fine, I don’t hate you. I still think you’re evil though.”

“I can live with that,” Derek said before taking another bite.

After a moment, Stiles asked, “So is this going to be a thing now?”

“What? Pink Berry?” Derek sat his spoon down in his cup.

“Not specifically. Just, you doing the whole friendly happy thing? Or was this more like a pity thing. Or a favor to my dad because he’s the sheriff thing?” Almost anything was better than pity. Stiles hadn’t even meant to ask, his mouth got ahead of him.

Derek lost his smile. In fact he was almost frowning. It made Stiles squirm. He wanted the smile back. The smile was good.

“We’re more than friends, Stiles. We’re pack. So anything I do for you, it’s not going to be about pity.”

“Oh.” Stiles tried to take that in. “But--”

“It might not be official, Scott hasn’t extended a formal invitation and I haven’t told him I want to be his beta, but I don’t think we have to at this point. We’ve settled on what works for us.”

“Oh.” Stiles said again.

“And that means we’re pack and it also means that I have your back. So yes, I’d like to keep doing this. Because I might not know what you went through specifically, but I’m here. I don’t pity you.” All of this was said at just above a whisper, though the place was mostly empty and the music was loud enough no one could overhear them. It left Stiles feeling a little speechless all over again.

“Is that okay?” Derek asked, his eyebrows furrowing.

“Yeah, definitely. More than okay, even.” 

“Good.” Derek said.

“Good.”

“Because tomorrow I’m taking you out for real food, so I just want you to be prepared for that ahead of time.” Derek smiled again and it was so good.

“Is that so?” Stiles asked him, grinning.

“It is.” Derek smirked.

Stiles wanted to ask if it was a date then, but he figured he’d already pushed his luck enough and Derek was back to smiling and happily eating his fro yo so Stiles hardly wanted to interrupt that all over again. Besides, there was always tomorrow for the teasing, and maybe a little flirting because something told him he could maybe get away with it.

“Eat your fro yo, Stiles, you think way too much.” Derek pointed his spoon at him.

“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles huffed, but then did just that.

Derek stuck by him for the rest of the day too, even though he bullied him into changing his sheets and washing a load of clothes. They watched shitty daytime television and Derek offered to fix dinner because his dad was going to be exhausted when he got home, and through it all Stiles didn’t think once about what he’d been through. 

He ate and the sheriff regaled them with his crazy shift and when it came time to go to bed Derek could sense his unease returning so he reassured him he’d just be on the couch. Surprisingly his dad didn’t even flinch at that, but instead looked satisfied.

All in all it was a good day and one totally worth getting out of bed for. Derek said goodnight, whispering that he’d be close if Stiles needed him and Stiles nodded and headed up to bed. He couldn’t feel completely confident about how his night was going to go, but tomorrow was looking pretty great.


End file.
